In a New Light
Chapter 11 – Apprehensive Friendships
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They both agreed that Katara should go back to join the others first. She pushed open the double doors with hesitation as she left Zuko out in the hallway to shrug his shirt and tunic back on. The air inside was filled with a hushed silence and Katara quickly scanned the room to see everyone divided into two distinct groups. Toph was knelt next to where Sokka was still sitting on his cushion, his bad leg jutting out in front of him uncomfortably. The two of them were whispering harshly while Sokka tried to shoo Aang away from overhearing whatever they were saying. Across the room from them by the snack table, Mai and Ty Lee were whispering similarly, with Suki standing between them, arms held between them protectively, trying to play peace keeper.
Disappointment panged Katara's chest. This night was meant to be about moving forward from past wrong doings, and instead, her own petty melodrama was overrunning the evening. If the eight of them couldn't manage to find a compromise for peace, then how were they supposed to represent the future of the four nations at the peace conferences in Ba Sing Se? Even though it hurt her, the divide before her just further convinced her that her promise to Zuko, to tell Mai that there was nothing between herself and Zuko, was the right thing to do. With a deep breath, she cleared her throat, alerting every one of her presence.
Every head turned toward her in apprehension, but Katara focused herself on Mai alone. The tall Fire Nation girl stood like a cool, quiet storm. Her body was still and calm, but her eyes raged like a howling wind. The combination made her stoicism both intimidating and mesmerizing. But Katara stepped toward her and the two Kyoshi Warriors anyway, determined to salvage something from this never-ending night.
"We need to talk," Katara said as neutrally as she could manage, keeping her eyes trained on Mai's face.
"Why? So, you can lie to me some more, or so you can brag about saving my boyfriend's life, and tell me all about how you 'changed his ways' with all your pathetic talks about hope and love?" Her words shot out like daggers, but Katara only let out an exasperated sigh.
Thankfully, Ty Lee spoke before Katara snapped back impulsively, "jealousy doesn't suit you Mai. Mixing all that green into your already gray aura isn't pretty." She said with such conviction and lightness that Katara would have laughed if the situation were different. "Besides, I think what Suki's been saying is right, you should hear Katara out – we're all trying to be friends, right?"
Mai slid her eyes back toward Ty Lee, "I don't need more friends."
"Sure, we do! I've got the Warriors now, and all these guys are way nicer than Azula – and besides, I know how lonely you get, it would be nice to try, and then we can all hang out together and – "
"Ty Lee!" Mai cut off her cheerful rambling with annoyance.
"It's fine," Katara said, holding up her hand, "we don't have to be friends. But, we should at least try to be on friendly terms, and… you deserve an explanation for everything."
Mai's eyes widened a fraction before narrowing back to their natural glare as she took in Katara's offer. "Fine," she agreed with a reluctant nod, and turned on her heel toward the large windows at the far end of the room.
Slightly taken off guard by her agreement, Katara shared a look with Suki before she followed after Mai, who was now fiddling with a small lock at the bottom of the leftmost window. Of course, she knows this room, of course she's been here before, Katara's bitterness drifted in before she quickly dismissed it, and bent down to follow Mai through the small hatch in the window and onto the thin balcony that was on the other side.
The two girls just stared at each other for a moment. Mai's glare wavering somewhere between indifference and suspicion, while Katara fidgeted nervously with her hands. She didn't know exactly where to begin, and she wanted this over with.
"I meant what I said this morning," Katara spoke, deciding that the beginning of the problem would be the best place to start, "that me being in his room wasn't what it looked like."
"I know," Mai responded, still indifferent, "he told me the same thing when I went inside. Emphatically."
"Oh," Katara faltered slightly, "then, uh, if you believed him, why did you make that whole scene in front of everyone?"
Mai's features hardened at the idea that she made a scene, and Katara wondered briefly if she was embarrassed. But her voice was still unwavering when she spoke, "just because you were only healing him last night doesn't mean there weren't other nights before that."
"There weren't," Katara blurted quickly, "truly nothing has happened, I swear." She was already getting tired of defending herself.
"That's not what the blind little earthbender said," Mai argued.
Katara groaned, "I don't know why Toph said that, and I really wish she hadn't. I'm going to ask her exactly what she felt right after this."
"Your friend is a self-proclaimed lie detector, and you're saying she was wrong?" Mai continued flatly, "you aren't exactly doing a very good job convincing me of anything."
"Look, as far as I know Toph has never been wrong before," Mai scoffed and rolled her eyes, but Katara continued strongly, "but, the truth isn't always cut and dry. All I know is that Zuko and I are just friends, and neither of us have said or done anything to hint to the other that we'd want more than that. And-and, he's upset that you think otherwise, he doesn't want you to be angry with him." Her voice softened.
"Don't tell me how he feels," Mai countered, now looking over Katara with open suspicion. Something clicked in her mind and she realized Mai thought that she was trying to play her. That they were in a game of manipulation, and Mai was determined to keep the upper hand. This must be what it was like to be friends with Azula – afraid someone was always watching and calculating your every move. Mai wasn't unemotional after all, she was just a master of a restraint.
Katara let out a sigh, and decided on a different approach. "Mai," she held the older girl's gaze, "I'm not Azula. I'm not trying to trick you, I just came out here to tell you my side of things, and I'll let you figure out the rest from there, okay?"
For the first time, Mai looked completely taken aback, like someone had ripped her stoic mask right off her face. She cast her eyes over Katara with a new sense of surprise, confusion, and some still lingering apprehension. But, she didn't let out another snappy comeback, so Katara took that as a queue to continue.
"You're right that Zuko's different from whenever you saw him last," she chose her words tactfully, trying to pinpoint exactly where Mai's worries lay, "he was already different when he asked to join our group – I had nothing to do with his change. And believe me, I was suspicious of him at first too – I guess not for the same reasons you are but," Katara paused, sensing from Mai's glare that she was getting off topic. "Anyway, he was able to prove himself to us, and he and I somehow became friends, and that's all. All of us spent all our time preparing for the comet, there was no time for anything else."
"And if there had been time?" Mai asked the obvious question, arms folded across her chest.
Katara took in a deep breath, this was the part she was worried about, but she wasn't sure there was a way around it anymore. "I don't know," she answered honestly, "probably still nothing. I didn't realize my feelings for him until tonight when I saw the way he looked at you," her voice was soft and raw. A blush crept up her cheeks and she had to look away. Mai was the last person she wanted to be vulnerable in front of.
Mai's mouth dropped open uncharacteristically for a split second before she regained her composure, "you're just admitting to it?"
Katara shrugged, "I told him I would tell you the truth, and this is it."
"Does he know?"
Katara thought back to just a few minutes ago, and the look of understanding and pain Zuko gave her when she couldn't answer why she had been on the balcony. The memory of it pulled on her heart. "Maybe. But if he does, he hasn't done anything about it, and that's enough of an answer for me," she felt tears threaten to creep up her throat again, but she willed them to wait.
Mai's suspicion shifted slightly toward respect, and she merely nodded in understanding.
"The rest of it, you're going to have to ask him yourself. You should give him more of a chance," Katara offered carefully.
Mai still seemed averse to being offered Katara's advice, but held her tongue this time. She turned to head back inside, before pausing and turning back, "why are you trying so hard to help me?"
"This way will be better for everyone," she shrugged again, trying to adapt some of Mai's indifference for herself, "and besides, I've only known I felt this way for a few hours, maybe by tomorrow the feelings will be gone completely." She had tried to lighten her tone, but her attempt fell flat and hung above them both awkwardly.
Mai met her eyes again, "well, thank you," she said with an apprehensive sincerity, and she crouched back through the window and out of sight.
Katara only stood to look up at the sky a moment longer. The moon was beginning to reach its resting horizon now, and she was too tired to dwell any longer.
Climbing back inside, she saw the previous tension had died down considerably. Suki was propping up Sokka's leg for him, shaking her head fondly while he snored obnoxiously. Aang and Ty Lee were having some sort of competition that involved handstands and desserts, while Mai and Zuko were talking quietly in the corner, their body language suggesting forgiveness. For the first time tonight, seeing them together didn't cause quite such a strong pang to her heart, and she knew there was hope that it will get better. She searched for Toph for a moment, wanting to get to the bottom of her friends malfunctioning heart beat senses.
The young earthbender was curled up her side, just beyond where Suki was now settling in next to her sleeping boyfriend. Toph's snores were roaring almost as loudly as Sokka's and Katara opted not to wake her up. She had learned early on to never wake Toph up unless there was a very good reason. And accusing her of subpar lie detection skills was definitely not a good reason. Maybe it's better I don't ask her after all, Katara thought, looking at the three of them now settled in peacefully, it won't change anything now.
With Sokka hogging most of the cushions for his legs, Katara went over to the last table by the desserts that had extra pillows and blankets piled on it. She had just bundled some up in her arms when she heard Aang's familiar, feather-light footsteps come up behind her.
"Hey Katara, how are you doing?" he asked sincerely, as he grabbed a blanket and a pillow for himself.
She sighed, and thought about how often she had asked him the same thing when he was down. He had always been honest with her, but she didn't know if she could bring herself to reciprocate that honesty right now. Spirits knew how much he had gathered from everything that happened earlier tonight, and she didn't want to hurt his feelings too. She had been vulnerable enough tonight. "I don't really know. Just tired I guess."
"Well, I'm here if you want to talk about it," he said with a reassuring nod.
"Thanks, Aang, but I think I've talked enough for tonight," she replied with a soft smile.
"Okay well, if you change your mind, I'm here. I know what you're going through and I might be able to help," he started to turn back toward the circle where everyone was getting ready to sleep.
"W-wait," she stopped him, "what do you mean you know what I'm going through?"
"Ya know, rejection," he shrugged casually.
Katara's jaw went slack as her mind wheeled through all the implications of what he just said. He wasn't as oblivious as she thought. "I wasn – you think I – but you're talking about m – and you – and you knew – but," she paused a moment. "You aren't upset?" she asked a little harsher than she intended.
He shrugged again, "the war is over, I unlocked my last chakra without losing you, and tomorrow we're travelling to start the first peace conference in a hundred years. We won the war, Katara," he reiterated. "The world is wide open now, it's kind of hard to be upset about anything."
What exactly happened to him when he talked to that Lion Turtle!? She continued to gape at him. She didn't understand what she had to do with unlocking his chakras, but otherwise everything he said made sense, it was perfectly logical. And it was the exact opposite of how she had been expecting him to react. "I can't handle this right now," she huffed, her exhaustion finally beginning to run her ragged.
"That's okay! We'll talk about it eventually," he said, still annoyingly nonchalant and confident.
She groaned, flopped down on the ground next to Suki, and fell asleep to the symphony of her brother and Toph's snores.
- \/\ -
The sun came up much too early, its heat fanning across where they all lay in the center of the room. Aang's breath tickled Katara's shoulder lightly from where he was curled up a few inches away from her. Sitting up and rubbing her eyes lazily, she saw that she wasn't the first one up; Zuko must have left even earlier in the morning, as Mai was sleeping by herself – other than Ty Lee who's positioning suggested she had attempted to wrap her arms around the other girl several times throughout the night, to little avail. At least I didn't have to wake up to them snuggling…
Before Katara could wonder for long where the new Fire Lord had gotten off to, the main double doors of the room slammed open, and an overly cheerful Iroh and the ever-stern Madame Zhi burst into the room.
"Hello kids! I trust you all had a wonderful night of bonding and shenanigans!" Iroh said with gusto.
Everyone grumbled vaguely, none of them really sure if much bonding actually happened, as they sat up drowsily from their haphazard sleeping positions.
"Good," Iroh continued, ignoring their lack of response, "because it's a new day, and we've got to get going – Ba Sing Se won't wait forever!"
"Sure, they will, we've got the Avatar and the new Fire Lord with us. They have to wait for us," Sokka countered smartly.
"Sokka," Aang scolded halfheartedly.
"Ah, yes, well that may be true my boy," Iroh faltered slightly, "but nonetheless, we should get going. My nephew is already waiting on the airship for those of you who will be travelling with him."
Sokka groaned, "but I'm not going with Zuko, so I can sleep for another few hours. Toph, wake me up when we're ready to go." He slumped back down onto his cushions.
"No way Snoozles, if you get more sleep, then so do I," Toph protested.
Aang sighed, "neither of you are getting more sleep. I need to feed and pack Appa, and Sokka you need to get your leg checked before you try climbing aboard. Let's get going lazy bones!"
"That is why I brought Madame Zhi with me this morning, very astute Avatar Aang," Iroh nodded to the Madame to begin her work on Sokka, "the rest of you, come with me, the airship is all ready for you."
Suki leaned over to Sokka and gave him a quick kiss goodbye. Min popped her head out from the hallway to lead Toph and Aang to where Appa was being kept, and the rest of the girls followed Iroh out of the palace to where the airship was waiting.
The inside of the ship was smaller than Katara imagined. It only consisted of a few rooms, the main cockpit and map room for the crew to operate in, two cabins with bunk beds, a shared bathroom, and then the captain's quarters, which Zuko would be staying in. The captain had opted to stay in one of the smaller cabins with the rest of the crew, giving the other cabin to the girls.
Looking around the small room apprehensively, Katara saw that her bag of belongings had already been brought aboard and was resting on one of the top bunks. The bed below hers, and the bunk next to it also seemed to have the other girls' packs as well. She sighed and climbed up to the top and began to rifle through her things absently to make sure everything was accounted for.
It was certainly going to be an interesting journey, sharing a room with Mai and Ty Lee. Suki unpacked her things at the bunk below her, and shot her a sympathetic look as she shrugged on her warrior outfit.
Seeing Suki begin to paint on her traditional Kyoshi makeup, Ty Lee followed suit and Katara decided it would be nice to get a change of clothes as well. Pulling out another of her blue tunics she hopped off the bunk and made her way to the shared bathroom down the hall.
She changed her clothes quickly but took a moment to look over herself in the smudged mirror. She looked tired. Exhausted, actually. As she splashed some water over her face and combed her hair, an announcement rang through the ship alerting them they would be take off in the next few minutes. With one last deep breath she tried to shake herself out of her never-ending thoughts, and headed back to her sleeping quarters.
Katara was surprised to see it was only Suki sitting inside, staring out one of the few windows in their room. She must have been gone longer than she thought.
"Where are Mai and Ty Lee?" Katara asked.
Suki turned to face her, "Ty Lee decided to take first watch over Zuko's room, and I think Mai is inside with him."
Katara nodded woodenly. "As much as I'm glad you're here Suki, I'm not exactly sure Zuko really needs protection while we're just travelling," she replied, not wanting to address the other part of Suki's statement.
There was a slight jerk of the floor beneath them as they felt the ship finally begin to ascend into the sky.
Suki shrugged as she regained her balance, "well we can't be entirely sure of the crew's motives I guess. Plus, it's good practice for Ty Lee – guard duty takes a lot of patience and she could use some more of that. Actually, she practically jumped up and down with excitement to guard the door when Mai said she wanted to go in, she made some weird comment to me about wanting to listen in on them or something."
Katara's eyes went wide, and a fraction of a second later Suki's did too as they both realized the possible implications of what Ty Lee might enjoy hearing. "Y-you don't think that means they're…" Katara couldn't finish the sentence, her mouth had gone desert dry.
"Oh, Katara, no, no I doubt it," Suki fumbled awkwardly, "I mean, Ty Lee likes to gossip and everything but I don't think she'd actually want to listen in on her best friend fuc – "
"Good! Right!" Katara responded a little too loudly, "they can't be doing that! He's injured and can't be enjoying any… activities until his wound is totally healed – that would just be stupid!"
Suki was nodding back vehemently when there was a firm knock on the door frame behind them. Katara squeaked in surprise, and felt a blush come roaring onto her face as she saw Mai standing in the doorway, with her hair slightly mussed and looking nervous.
"Speaking of…" Suki muttered just loud enough for Katara to hear.
"Katara," Mai said her name carefully, as if it didn't sit right on her tongue, "could you come take a look at Zuko, I… I think he may need some healing." Her voice was as calm as ever, only faltering for half a second. But it was the flash of fear in her eyes that worried Katara more than anything.
She shared a brief look with Suki as her friend whispered a shocked 'oh my god,' and Katara followed Mai out of the room, toward the captain's quarters at the back of the ship.
"What happened?" Katara demanded, anger boiling down to her finger tips. How could they be so stupid – what kind of idiot tries to have sex when he's lost half the muscle in his stomach!?
"We were talking, and when the ship took off he lost his balance and seemed to be in pain, and he couldn't get up," Mai recounted factually, her voice a fraction weaker than before.
Katara stopped to meet Mai's eyeline, they had reached the door outside Zuko's room – which Ty Lee was still obediently guarding. "Just talking? Really?" Katara countered, "then what happened to your hair Mai? I know this is a disheveled look for you!"
Mai's eyes narrowed, and Ty Lee let out a little 'eep.' "I look disheveled? I believed you when you came out of his room just yesterday looking a hell of a lot worse than this – so, what exactly are you implying?" She had inched forward to tower over Katara, sending daggers with just her eyes.
Katara faltered slightly, realizing her emotions were getting the better of her, "I just mean that, as his medical representation here, I need to know all the facts of what happened so that I know how best to go about treating him."
Mai backed down only slightly, "I tried to balance him when he fell. His hands went into my hair and messed it up, and then he fell further and landed on top of me." Katara glanced at Ty Lee, who nodded as if to confirm that there were no other suspicious noises going on behind the door. "I'm not as stupid as you think I am, watebender," Mai shot back.
Katara nodded, feeling guilty, "I'll see what I can do for him. Sorry." She meant it. Hopefully she'd get a handle on how to talk to Mai soon; the embarrassment from jumping down her throat so quickly was already beginning to settle in. With another hard look passed between the two of them, Katara turned and pushed her way into Zuko's room.
Quickly scanning the room, she understood the fear she had seen in Mai's eyes. Zuko was hunched over next the side of the bed, with one arm hoisted up on it, trying to leverage himself up. With a huff of effort, he tried to push himself onto his feet, but only further crumpled onto himself.
"Zuko!" Katara rushed over to him to support his lower back as he sank down to lean his back against the bed, one arm clutching at his stomach. He looked up at her and nodded to acknowledge her presence through panting breaths.
"Hey Katara," he rasped, attempting to sound casual.
She ignored his nonchalant attitude, "Zuko, what have you been doing this morning? It shouldn't be this aggravated already," she scolded.
His eyes turned dark and he looked away from her. Katara sighed when she realized he wasn't going to answer her.
"Alright, well I'm going to lift you to the bed so I can heal it," she said professionally. She looped her arms under his so that she held most of his weight, and with his help he bent his legs underneath himself to stand, and then immediately sit down on the bed.
His breathing was heavy, but he nodded his thanks, before he took off his tunic and shirt to lie back. Katara gasped when she saw his wound. It was even redder than it was last night; it almost looked like it was pulsing.
"It's fine," Zuko said, trying to calm her down, "I don't really even feel it."
Katara scoffed and immediately pulled a stream of water from her water skin and began healing. She was relieved to feel that the wound was responding quickly, and whatever Zuko had done to it since she last healed him hadn't done any permanent damage. But it still shouldn't look this inflamed unless he was overexerting himself. Katara mentally slapped herself when her mind drifted back to the conclusions she had jumped to earlier. She needed to know exactly what he had been doing this morning.
"…so, Mai said that you fell," Katara asked carefully, knowing if she prompted him right he'd open up.
He mumbled something she couldn't quite understand under his breath.
"What was that?" she asked as she put a little extra pressure into her healing hands, causing him to flinch away from her slightly.
"Shit, Katara," he winced, "I forgot how tough you can be when you're angry."
She scooted back in offense, "I'm not angry, I'm worried about you. You have to be careful, Zuko, if you push yourself too hard then it can get worse." It came out angrier than she anticipated, much to her chagrin, but the sincerity of her words must have come across as well, because he was looking up at her with a soft knowing expression. Stop looking at me like that, she willed him to read her mind.
After a moment, sensing they were toeing some invisible emotional line, he looked away from her and sighed. "It was bothering me before I fell… I, I went to visit my father this morning," he admitted begrudgingly.
"Oh," Katara breathed. "Why did – how was – what did he say?" She fumbled, trying to decide on the best avenue to take.
"Mostly just more of his usual bullshit, how he thinks I'm a failure, that I'll make a terrible Fire Lord and that it's just a matter of time before I come crawling to him asking him for help. Then he tried to make a big point about how worried he was about Azula, probably trying to play favorites again and get under my skin," he regaled with exasperation, "but I know that's all lies too. He doesn't care about her any more than he cares about me – she was just a more useful tool than I was."
She could feel his honesty, that he truly believed and understood that his father was only trying to manipulate him – but she felt how dejected he was too. It must be awful to know how horrible a person is, but still have a part of you crave their validation. Katara wanted to reach out and touch his face, but stopped herself, and settled for the back of his hand instead. His fingers twitched at her touch, and for a moment she thought he would flip his palm over to meet hers, but he never did.
"I expected all of that from him though, and it wasn't the reason I went to see him," he paused, and she let him collect himself rather than prod. "I went to ask him where my mother is."
Katara inhaled through her teeth, and before she could say anything he continued speaking.
"Smug asshole just laughed in my face. I shouldn't have gone to him, all it did was give him reason to believe he still has something to hold over me, some small semblance of power he can taunt me with," Zuko spat bitterly, "…took all of my willpower not to burn his face off right then – but that would have just been playing into his hands." A small spark flickered in the palm of the hand Katara wasn't holding.
"Wait, Zuko, did you firebend?" Katara blurted out, immediately cursing herself for asking a practical question when he was so emotional.
"I just told you I didn't do anything to him!" he snapped back.
Katara had braced herself for his attitude, and pushed onward anyway, "I mean afterwards, did you try to bend?"
Zuko looked away sheepishly, "…may have burned down a tree or two on my way back," he mumbled.
"Zuko," she drawled, shaking her head as she pulled another stream of water from her sling to coat her hands, "that's why your wound is so inflamed! You can't bend properly while your wound is still this fresh! Your chi paths are all blocked, not to mention you still need to rebuild about half of your core muscles!"
He sighed, "I knew you'd say something like that," he grumbled as she placed her cool hands back on his chest.
They were quiet for a few moments while she concentrated on stitching him back together. It was fairly easy to fix the damage he had done from overexerting himself, and she couldn't help but notice that his wound was healing well over all. As long as he stayed away from bending and any other strenuous activities, he would only need a few more days of healing sessions.
"I am sorry about your mother," she whispered.
He looked up to hold her gaze fiercely again, "I know you are."
'I know who killed your mother, and I'm going to help you find him,' his voice from a few weeks ago rang through her mind, with the image of his sleep-deprived but earnest determination as he sat outside her tent, waiting for her answer. She had barely even known him then and he offered to help her find closure for one of the most important things in her life. She wanted nothing more than to be able to return the favor, but something was holding her back. In the span of just one day, it suddenly felt inappropriate to unashamedly offer her friendship and support to him. It didn't feel like an intimate offer when he came to me about Yon Rha, so why does it feel like this would be now?
She took a deep breath and spoke carefully, trying her best to keep her tone neutral, "Zuko… I want you to know that I'm here for you, and you don't have to be alone if you ever choose to go down that path. I would help you find her if you wanted me too."
"I know you would," he nodded, but dropped the intensity of his stare after just a moment, relieving her from the irksome feelings that made her chest constrict.
He cleared his throat a few minutes later, "I wanted to thank you… for talking to Mai."
Katara nodded noncommittally, focusing herself on finishing up healing.
"Whatever you said to her, it actually worked and she's not mad at me anymore. Well, she's not mad about that anymore," he said with a soft chuckle.
Katara's brow furrowed at the fondness of his tone. Unsure still how to navigate exactly where the friendship boundaries were, she hesitated before deciding not to ask what else Mai had to be mad about, and settled for, "well, that's what friends are for." Her smile was strained, and she knew he felt it, but she kept it up regardless.
He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped and let out a loose laugh as he shook his head, "I was about to thank you again for healing me, but I remembered you telling me just yesterday morning that I don't need to thank you, right?"
She laughed lightly, with everything that happened yesterday, she had forgotten their odd shyness the morning after Aang had come back. In that moment, it was so important to her to make sure Zuko knew that she wanted to spend time with him, and was glad to be healing him – that he wasn't a burden to her. Just a day later, and it felt like the opposite was true; she had felt like she was beginning to become a burden on him instead.
"I guess a few 'thank yous' don't hurt," she tried to joke. Chancing a glance up to his eyes, she saw that he was trying just as hard as she was to find where exactly the new invisible line in the sand was between them. This isn't easy for him either, she thought with mild relief.
"Well, I am Fire Lord now, so don't expect too much gratitude. I have to keep up appearances and such," he said with a sarcastic smirk.
She couldn't help but smile back. "Of course, your Highness," she capped her water skin and stood to do a mock bow, "I trust you found this healing session to be satisfactory?"
"I did, thank you Master Katara," he nodded back, with his smirk still etched across his features, "and I can expect to see you again this evening for another session?"
She raised an eyebrow coyly, glad to have a shift in mood – it felt nice to just joke around again. "Well, seeing as I am a master and am not a Fire Nation citizen, I have a very busy schedule and am not bound to obey your orders, so you'll just have to wait and see."
He nodded once more. "I look forward to it," he said with an exaggerated professionalism.
Katara rolled her eyes with a scoff, but raised her hand in a half wave and left before she could overthink anything.
Opening the door back out to the small hallway, she was surprised to see that Suki had taken Ty Lee's place for guard duty.
"Ty Lee came running back to the room fairly soon after you went inside, asking if we could switch places so she could talk to Mai," Suki answered Katara's silent question. "Besides, it was getting really awkward being in there with Mai and not talking."
Katara nodded in understanding. "Suki, how did you forgive Ty Lee for everything? I mean, she helped Azula capture you and your warriors, and now you've let her join you all like it didn't happen."
Suki sighed and looked away, "well, it wasn't easy… and to be honest, it wasn't really even my decision."
"But, you're the leader of the Kyoshi Warriors, shouldn't your opinion have mattered more than anyone else's?"
"You'd think so," Suki chuckled, "but I was imprisoned separately from the rest of the warriors remember? After what happened at the Boiling Rock, Azula must have had Ty Lee sent to the prison where the rest of the warriors were and they all managed to bond. I've heard all sorts of stories from the girls about how manipulative Azula was to Ty Lee, and that she basically had no choice but to go along with her. They also said that Ty Lee didn't even really realize what they were doing was wrong, Azula had convinced them they were doing right by their country – but Ty Lee apologized profusely when the warriors explained their side, and then they all played a lot of truth or dare, I guess," she laughed.
Katara laughed distantly as she thought over everything. "So, when you saw her with them yesterday morning, they had already allowed her to join and you just had to go along with it?"
"Sort of yeah," Suki replied, "I was definitely skeptical too, but they were all sure of her loyalty, and I had seen Zuko change his ways firsthand, so who was I to throw her out of the group without giving her a chance?"
"Mm," Katara hummed, staring contemplatively down the hall to the door of their room where Mai and Ty Lee were. "I wonder why Mai wasn't imprisoned with Ty Lee too – based on what Ty Lee said about how they betrayed Azula, Mai was the instigator, not Ty Lee."
Suki shrugged, "Ty Lee mentioned something about Mai's uncle vouching for her and allowing her to stay with him as a 'guest' at the Boiling Rock, instead of locked up with everyone else."
"Hm," Katara hummed again, still trying to process everything. She nodded goodbye to Suki and made the short walk down the hallway back to their shared room.
The door had been left slightly ajar and she could hear the other two girls' voices drifting out softly.
"He's so different. The waterbender girl said that he was already like that, but I saw him only a month ago and he's changed so much." That's Mai, Katara confirmed to herself.
"I like Katara, I think it's brave how she wears all of her emotions out on her sleeve." And that's definitely Ty Lee's voice.
There was a brief pause. Katara wasn't a fan of eavesdropping, but she couldn't help but hesitate before going inside. Mai sounded much more at ease talking to Ty Lee than to anyone else, and Katara was, admittedly curious to see where else the conversation would go.
"Not that being reserved is a bad thing!" Ty Lee sounded like she was backtracking, "I just mean that I don't think Katara would lie about something like that. Besides, didn't you say that Zuko was super weird in his break up letter anyway?"
Break up letter? Was that how Zuko ended things with Mai before he came to join us? Yeesh…
"Yeah…" Mai sighed. "And he was so sure of his decision when he was locked up for trying to save the Water Tribe kid's – "
"Sokka," Ty Lee provided.
"Ugh, whatever," Mai sounded flippantly. "My point is, they were working together, and when I saw him, I called him out for betraying our country, but he said he was saving our country… and at the time I thought he might be delusional, but now after everything…"
There were some rustling sounds, and Katara risked a glance through the sliver of the door's opening. Ty Lee must have just shifted on the bed to wrap her arm around Mai's shoulder consolingly. And Mai surprisingly didn't pull away from her friend's comfort.
"And now you've gone and joined those Earth Kingdom peasant warriors – yeah, yeah Kyoshi Warriors, I know," Mai corrected before Ty Lee did it for her, "I just mean… we were wrong the whole time weren't we Ty?" Katara was surprised to hear an air of sadness and regret in Mai's voice. "Everything Azula said, and everything we've been taught our whole lives – it was wrong wasn't it?"
Ty Lee sighed and rubbed Mai's arm, "even if we had known what we were doing was wrong, and we wanted to stop, you know Azula wouldn't have let us."
Katara could just barely make out the side of Mai's face as she shook her head. "That's just it, Ty, I wouldn't have even considered risking Azula's wrath just to do better by the Fire Nation – even going against her to let Zuko and everyone escape from the Boiling Rock was an impulse decision and he…" her voice faltered slightly.
Is she crying? Katara wondered in shock.
"Zuko, risked everything he had just for a chance to make the world a better place. He saw everything for what it really was when none of us could – and then he did something about it. I've never known conviction like that," her words were thick with emotion.
Wow, tears prickled up in Katara's eyes as both understanding and guilt and maybe a twinge of jealousy swirled in her stomach.
"Aw, Mai! You really do love him!" Ty Lee chirped, squeezing her tightly.
Mai groaned and quickly swiped a single stray tear from her cheek. "But I'm still so mad at him! Half of me admires him and the other half just doesn't understand! Those stupid tapestries – it's like he's completely disregarding his entire culture!"
Katara inhaled sharply, suddenly understanding not only why she had felt like Zuko removing the Fire Nation tapestries had left a weird pit in her stomach, but also why he and Mai had been arguing and pointing at the walls last night.
"Okay, you've lost me," Ty Lee said.
"Wait," Mai's voice had regained its sharp edge, her body had shifted toward where Katara was standing just beyond the door frame. "Katara, I know you're out there!"
Shit. Katara froze. Nothing to do but own up to it, I guess.
Katara pushed open the door all the way and waved at the two girls sheepishly.
"I'm going to go ahead and assume you were listening the whole time?" Mai's eyes were narrowed and her hands were clasped tightly in her lap.
"…Yes," Katara admitted reluctantly.
"So far you aren't doing a great job at gaining my trust," Mai scolded.
"Don't pretend like you wouldn't have done the same thing if it were Suki and I in here," Katara countered with a boldly casual tone. She crossed the room to sit on the bottom bed of hers and Suki's bunk and mirrored Mai's posture.
"Fair enough," Mai's eyes roamed over Katara with a now familiar skepticism. "And I imagine you want to share your thoughts on our conversation with us?"
"Yes, actually," Katara smiled slightly, and tried not to let Mai's hostile tone affect her. She wanted to make sure she believed her sincerity. "I agree with you about the tapestries. Erasing the Fire Nation's history isn't going to help anyone – they shouldn't just be hidden away in the catacombs so everyone can forget about a hundred years' worth of propaganda."
Mai's head tilted slightly in consideration, her jaw losing some of its natural tightness. "And abandoning all of our symbols will likely be seen as a sign of weakness. The Fire Nation citizens won't see his strength if he's constantly listening to the advice of foreigners such as yourself and the Avatar."
Katara nodded, glad Mai wasn't directly arguing with her. And that she seemed to have a good handle on her nation's politics. "Which is why you should be the one to suggest to him to place the tapestries – and all the rest of the wartime symbols and rhetoric – on display somewhere in the capital where everyone can see them and learn from the mistakes of the nation's past."
"Ooo, wow Katara, that's amazing, how'd you come up with that so fast?" Ty Lee praised, while Mai looked to still be thinking it over.
Katara shrugged, "hiding everything felt wrong to me. And when I overheard you say Zuko would be abandoning his culture, it just seemed like the best compromise. It's an acknowledgement to the past, as well as a promise to do better in the future."
Mai nodded slowly, "and it won't just be good for domestic affairs, but for international relations too."
She had a better grasp on politics than Katara originally anticipated.
"Mai's dad is the mayor of New Ozai," Ty Lee provided proudly, as if reading Katara's mind.
"You mean Omashu," Katara corrected immediately.
Ty Lee chuckled awkwardly, "oh… right, I guess we'll have to work on that too… That was sort of our fault wasn't it."
"You're really okay with me suggesting your idea to Zuko?" Mai said, turning the conversation back to her and Katara.
She nodded back earnestly, "it'll be better coming from you. And then you can suggest it officially at the peace conference too, as his advisor."
"I still don't understand why you're helping me," Mai said after a moment, letting her guard down slightly and allowing Katara to see her genuine confusion.
"My priorities have been mixed up the last fews days, and I've realized there's no good reason for there to be tension between us. Restoring balance between the nations should be all that matters, and letting my feelings override that is just selfish. I think this will be the best for everyone."
"Aww look, see! We can all be friends!" Ty Lee squealed, giving Mai a big hug before running over to give Katara one as well. "Oh, there's just one problem though," she stopped in her tracks in the middle of the room, "Mai hates negotiations and meetings, 'so boring,'" she badly imitated Mai's monotone.
There was a moment of silence, then Katara met Mai's eyes and to both of their surprise, they started laughing.
"You're awful at impressions, Ty Lee," Mai said through her reserved laughter.
"Well, you're smiling aren't you, so it worked," she replied, crossing her arms with a huff.
It did feel a little odd to chat almost casually with Mai and Ty Lee, but for the most part it came naturally. Katara had resigned herself to let go of her animosity toward Mai as best she could, now that she was sure that Mai really was just trying her best. It still caused a pang in her gut to think about it, but Mai loved Zuko, and Katara was convinced now that this is what would be best for everyone.
The conversation did dwindle a few times, but Ty Lee was a master at keeping things as lively as possible. Katara found that Mai was actually an excellent conversationalist when she wasn't bored by the topic, or trying to hide everything she felt. They chatted a lot about Fire Nation practices and differences to the Water Tribe, and Katara mentioned the time she briefly babysat Mai's younger brother Tom Tom. By the time Suki came to get Ty Lee to change over guard duty, Katara was pretty sure that she and Mai were actually on track to being friends. Well, friend-ish.
- \/\ -
The day passed by surprisingly quickly as the four girls went over the various topics they expected to be brought up over the course of the peace negotiations. They would all try their best to present a united front to those who would be opposed to listening to the needs and ideas of the Fire Nation. Ty Lee and Suki switched off their guard duty every few hours, and by the time the sun was setting it was just Katara and Suki sitting across from each other on the bottom bunks. Mai had gone back to visit with Zuko a few hours ago.
"You seem to be doing much better tonight, all things considered," Suki gave Katara a pointed look.
Katara sighed, "I have been pretty all over the place, haven't I?"
They both managed a laugh that trailed off into a contemplative silence.
"I think I just needed some perspective…" she looked out the window to stare fondly at the skyline, "I had almost lost him to Azula… It felt so much like when I had almost lost Aang to her too – and then Mai came in and it felt like I was losing him all over again." She sighed again to meet Suki's knowing eyes, "but I realize now it isn't the same thing. I haven't lost him at all – we're just different than how I think we were going to be."
Suki nodded, "I'm honestly amazed you've been able to recover so quickly. If Sokka had done something similar to me I would have kicked his ass."
Katara laughed, "yeah but Zuko and I were never anything, it was always just a 'what if.' It wouldn't be fair for me to stay angry with him."
"If it was always just a maybe for you guys, then what was with Toph saying he was lying last night?"
"Ugh, I still don't know!" Katara ran her hands through her hair, "it is true that nothing actually happened, but I guess our time together did actually mean something to him – so technically he was lying? Or maybe he was just too riled up from the whole situation and his heart rate went up anyway? I don't know, I'm tired of thinking about it." Because if that's true, and he did feel something for me, that only makes it worse…
"Well," Suki leaned back on her elbows, "I'm just glad you're admitting to it now. And I'll make sure to mention to Sokka to stop teasing you too."
Katara shrugged, "I doubt he will anyway after he saw my complete breakdown on the balcony last night."
"Aww, you told Sokka before you told me?" Suki teased.
"Well, I wasn't really intending on telling anyone – not even myself, apparently," she scoffed, "it all just kind of happened."
Suki inhaled suddenly and propped herself up on her palms, "you think after last night that Aang knows too?"
A hazy memory of Aang wanting to bond over rejection surfaced in Katara's mind. Right…I had almost forgotten about that. "Ugh, yeah I'm pretty sure he does."
Suki grimaced apologetically.
"I actually don't think he's upset though," Katara responded as the details of her conversation filtered back to her. "He seemed worried that I was upset more than anything, and then he said he'd be there to talk to me about it if I wanted."
"Hm," Suki mused, "well, he has seemed a bit different since he disappeared. I mean he's still a big goofball, but there's something…"
Katara nodded, "yeah I've noticed it too. I'm not sure what it is – but I think either whatever happened with the Lion Turtle, or maybe even just taking down Ozai made something click for him. It's almost like he's become fully comfortable with being the Avatar now."
"Or maybe it was finally unlocking that last chakra," Suki said, nodding along with Katara.
"He's told you about the chakra thing too?" Katara said with a smile.
"More like he won't stop telling everyone about his chakras," they both laughed.
There was a light knock on the door in the middle of their laughing fit. It was one of the crewmen with their dinner for the night. Katara beckoned him in and ate it quickly before deciding now was probably a good time to get Zuko's nighttime healing out of the way so she could go to bed at a decent hour. They'd be landing in Ba Sing Se right around sunrise and it was bound to be another long day tomorrow.
Setting her now empty tray down on the bedside table and waving goodbye to Suki, Katara headed out into the narrow hallway. Ty Lee was standing on her hands, with her legs leaned up against the wall next to the door the Zuko's room. It looked like an incredibly uncomfortable position with her full Kyoshi Warrior gear on. But when Katara approached her, Ty Lee lifted one hand off the ground with ease to give her a cheerful wave.
"Hey, Ty Lee," Katara waved back, "I should probably heal Zuko again before we go to bed. Is it uh… safe to go inside?"
Ty Lee giggled before bending back up onto her feet gracefully, "yep, should be fine, they've just been talking."
"Okay," Katara nodded her thanks and hesitated with her arm raised just before the door. Even though she and Mai were on better terms and her own emotions about the entire situation were beginning to subside, she was still buzzing with nerves.
With a determined sigh she hardened her features and rapped her knuckles on the metal door.
"…yes?" came Mai's curt voice.
"Uhh, it's Katara. I'm here to do some healing for Zuko."
There was a small pause and some shuffling and then the door creaked open.
"Uh, hey," Zuko said, holding the door open, his eyes darting between Katara and where Mai was sitting legs crossed at the foot of his bed.
Katara smiled briefly before pushing past him to enter the room. It looked just the same as it had in the morning, except now there were piles of papers scattered all over the desk and floor. Preparing for the conferences, Katara confirmed to herself with a relief she didn't know she had been holding in.
"Um, so…" Zuko trailed off, still looking between the two girls, his discomfort at the situation written all over his face.
"I wanted to see how you're healing up after you aggravated the wound this morning," Katara spoke professionally.
"Okay," Zuko nodded sheepishly, his hand rubbing the back of his neck. His eyes went back to Mai, giving her a hard look, as if silently begging her to leave without having to ask her.
Mai remained still, only quirking her brow with a clear message of make me.
Katara let the two of them stew in the awkwardness for a moment, silently reveling in the fact that she was no longer the only one made uncomfortable by this whole thing. That's when an idea occurred to her. A small, petty idea – but one that could have a good practical outcome.
"Mai," Katara smirked as she turned toward her, "why don't you stay so that you can see firsthand how his healing happens. And then I can teach you how to do his bandages as well."
Zuko would have to wear that look of discomfort for a little while longer.
"Err," Zuko faltered.
"That's a great idea, Katara," Mai said, flashing her a quick smile as she stood to give Zuko room to lay down.
Looks like Mai isn't opposed to some light teasing either, Katara fought back a chuckle, maybe this means she's starting to trust me a bit too.
"Uh, Mai are you sure – this seems like it would be pretty boring for you," Zuko said, his eyes silently pleading with her.
"Actually, I think learning about Katara's magic water will be pretty entertaining."
"It's not magic, it's waterbending." The words fell out of Zuko's mouth apparently without him even realizing, as a crimson blush crept up his cheeks a good second later.
Katara's eyes went wide and she had to clamp her lips together to keep from laughing. I said that in front of him to Madame Zhi just the other day.
Mai sent a hard glare at the both of them, disliking that something had clearly just gone over her head.
Okay, let's wrap this up before it backfires on me – the goal here is to give Zuko a taste of some of the awkwardness, not to make Mai go back to hating me. Katara gestured to Zuko to lay down and she took Mai's spot at the foot of the bed.
"Let's just get this over with," Zuko grumbled as he pulled off his shirt and laid down on the bed. His jaw was clenched tight and he looked up at the ceiling defiantly.
Katara scooted closer to Zuko's chest and pulled a stream of water from her pouch. She turned back to see Mai watching intently, her face only showing traces of annoyance. Moving her hands to his stomach, Katara didn't let herself hesitate to touch his bare chest. As much as she wanted to make Zuko feel a bit of what she's been feeling all day, she knew she had to show Mai that these healing sessions were just that; healing sessions.
The three of them were silent as Katara focused on stitching the threads of muscle back together. The air was thick with tension.
She had done this so many times now that she knew the intricacies of his wound well and she fell into an easy rhythm of moving her hands to the most vulnerable areas. Mai's presence behind her slowly came closer as she watched with interest.
As Katara moved her hands to the lower area of his wound – where most of the damage had been from his firebending this morning – she was surprised to feel that it had almost completely healed.
"Wow, Zuko! This is healing great just from this morning," she couldn't help but to contain her joy. It had just been superfluous damage after all, just a slight case of over exertion.
There was a small sigh of relief from over Katara's shoulder, and she remembered that Mai must have been worried about him too.
Zuko looked away from the ceiling for the first time to look at both of their faces skeptically, before a small smile graced his face.
Katara turned slightly to see Mai smiling back at him too, and did her best not to react to the pit in her own stomach. But Mai's smile disappeared only seconds later and was replaced with another hard stare.
"No more going off on your own you big idiot!" Mai said harshly, and she slapped him lightly across the shoulder, "and definitely no more firebending until Katara gives you the okay, got it!?"
"Ow, ow – ow! Okay Mai, okay!" Zuko put his hands up to defend his face from her. She hit him a few more times for good measure.
Katara cleared her throat to get their attention, giving them both a strained smile. Mai pulled back to stand behind Katara once again, and the three of them regained their composure.
With her plan to make Zuko uncomfortable being slightly derailed, Katara felt the need to flee before her feelings got the better of her. So, she quickly got to teaching Mai how to bandage up Zuko's chest – how to tuck the bandages into themselves by alternating between wrapping around his ribs and then up to his shoulders. Luckily Mai was a quick learner and worked quietly to make sure she was doing a good job, giving Katara a moment to compose herself once again.
Once Katara was satisfied with Mai's work she gave them both a quick wave and turned to leave. She caught Zuko's eye for the briefest moment, his gaze sympathetic and grateful – and then she was gone, walking swiftly by Ty Lee and into their room.
"How was it?" Suki asked carefully, as Katara pulled herself up onto the top bunk.
Collapsing down, hair splayed across her pillow with a puff of air, Katara let out a deep sigh. "It was… well, it's getting better," she rubbed the heels of her hands into her eyes, "this time I lasted five minutes before wanting to run away, jump in a lake and pull out all my hair."
Suki leaned out from the bottom bunk to give Katara a kind smile, "I'm sure it'll keep getting easier." She reached up to give Katara's hand a light squeeze.
She squeezed back. "Thanks Suki, I think you're right." Dropping her friend's hand, she turned to face the wall and closed her eyes.
- \/\ -
Flying so high in the sky, there were no clouds to shield the sun as it rose off the horizon directly in front of the ship, letting slivers of sunlight to creep in through the cabin windows and shine directly onto Katara's closed eyelids. Rolling over with a groan she stared out the window, allowing time for her eyes to adjust to the brightness long enough to realize that the ship was actually slowly descending down to the clouds just below them. And not moments later, an announcement rang through the cabin alerting them that they would be landing in ten minutes time.
Shifting to look around her cabin, Katara saw Suki's bunk beneath her was empty, while Ty Lee across from her was still sound asleep, with her arm slung over her face, and now covered with a perfect imprint of her Kyoshi makeup. Glancing down to where Mai was sleeping Katara couldn't help but suppress a giggle. I guess she can't maintain her controlled composure in her sleep too. She committed the image of Mai's limbs splayed haphazardly at odd angles, and the small puddle of drool around her open mouth to memory. She was ashamed to admit it, but seeing her in such an unrestrained state, made Katara feel just a bit better.
Sliding silently off the top bunk, Katara went down the hallway and to the bathroom to freshen up, waving to Suki where she stood for guard duty, with a yawn as she went.
Rubbing her eyes as she left the washroom a few minutes later, she slammed into Suki, hard. Katara lost her balance slightly, tripping forward, only to be caught by the shoulders.
"Oh, shit Suki, sorry, I didn't think you'd – oh." It wasn't Suki. It should have been the lack of Kyoshi armor, or even the flat hardness of his chest beneath his tunic that alerted her to the fact that her face was currently not pressed into the nape of her friend Suki's neck, but rather her maybe-friend-maybe-current-former-crush-Zuko's chest. But it was the warmth of his hands on her shoulders, and the slight scent of jasmine coming from his skin that made her realize exactly who's chest she was still leaning on.
Jumping back suddenly, her face feeling like it had been lit aflame, she began apologizing profusely.
"Ka-katara, it's – Katara let me talk," Zuko protested as she continued apologizing over him. "It's fine," he rubbed her shoulder subconsciously, "it's hardly the first time we've run into each other. Shit, we've actually injured each other sparring before, it's fine."
"Oh… uh, yeah you're right." So why does everything feel so different now? She looked up to see Suki snickering just beyond Zuko's shoulder. "I just, uh, was you know, joking, because you're the Fire Lord now, and a lowly peasant can't just be going around knocking a great powerful nation leader off balance," she managed a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes and she knew her excuse was flimsy at best.
His face scrunched up in a mixture of confusion and amusement. "That's a terrible joke Katara."
"Ah, ha, yeah you're right, again. I guess I won't be auditioning to be your royal jester anytime soon," she said with a more convincing smile this time.
"That one was a little better," he said with a sly smile.
She was about to mention that maybe he could take his hands off her shoulders now, when the ship made a sudden lurch into a solid stop, causing Katara to fall forward once again, this time catching herself by wrapping her arms unceremoniously around his neck, while his grip tightened and lowered to wrap around her lower back.
"Mmph," Katara grunted, now back in the crook of his neck.
"I, uh, I think that means we landed," Zuko said somewhat breathlessly. She looked up to see his face was just as flushed as hers. They stared at each other a moment, both of them hyperaware that he had been rubbing her back soothingly since she had fallen forward the second time. They were locked in a silent contract. If he stopped moving his hands, it would be the same as acknowledging that he was doing it in the first place, and that was something neither of them seemed to be able to admit in good conscious.
"Ahem!" Suki cleared her throat loudly, causing the two of them to jump about a foot away from each other. "It's Fire Nation custom for the Fire Lord to leave the ship first, right?" she asked pointedly.
"Err, uh, right, thanks Suki," Zuko nodded once to Suki, and promptly turned on his heel toward the ship's main exit hatch.
"You are in serious trouble girl," Suki whispered to Katara once they were alone.
"Shhh!" Katara hissed, "just pretend like nothing happened."
"You really think that's going to work?" Suki raised an eyebrow, "because that was some serious chemistry. Toph was right, that was not nothing."
"Not helpful," Katara glared back. "Officially, nothing happened, and so there's nothing to worry about."
"Ookay," Suki drawled.
Katara walked forward swiftly. She was not going to let that small nothing, ruin all the progress she'd made. Things were going to go back to normal between them all, she'd make sure of it.
Head held high, she followed down the hall to the exit of the ship and stepped out into the dry Earth Kingdom heat, where Ty Lee and Mai were waiting with Zuko, surrounded by a small crowd of people.
"Holy shit, Aang wasn't lying – Lee really is the Fire Lord!" a familiar gravelly voice filtered through the crowd, "and that means Jet was right too! Man, would he be pissed if he were here!"
Smellerbee, Katara confirmed as she recognized the Freedom Fighter's slight frame among the crowd, standing next to the ever-silent Long Shot.
"Katara!" she turned toward where she heard Aang calling her name. "Katara, look! I found Smellerbee and Long Shot – isn't it crazy that they actually knew Zuko from when he was staying in the city?"
"Aang," Katara whispered harshly, "don't you remember what the Freedom Fighters thought of the Fire Nation!? Them finding out someone they considered to be a friend had actually been an enemy the whole time, could end very badly."
Aang tilted his head, "but that was just Jet. Smellerbee and Longshot were always cool. Plus, The Duke met Zuko when we were at the Western Air Temple and he didn't mind either."
"I don't know," Katara said, looking over to where Smellerbee and Long Shot were sizing up Zuko contemplatively.
"Well, I have a good feeling about this," Aang said cheerfully.
I'm not so sure… The Freedom Fighters were Earth Kingdom citizens with a very complicated relationship to both the Fire Nation and Katara's group of friends. I have a feeling this peace conference is going to be a lot more complicated that we thought…
-/\/\/\/\/\/\-
A/N: Hi everyone, sorry this one took so long to get out. So so so many of you have left really sweet comments/reviews and I really appreciate it. Thanks so much for your patience!
I went back and forth with this chapter a few times, because I really did want to spend a little bit of time on Mai and Katara's tentative friendship (as they are seen being friendly with each other in the last scene of the finale of the show - plus I don't totally love the idea of pitting them against each other just because they like the same guy in my fic, and also I personally really like Mai and don't want to treat her unfairly as a character either), but what was originally one semi-bonding scene ended up turning into essentially a whole chapters worth of content, so I do apologize that we aren't heading to the official ending of the show's finale as quickly as I had originally anticipated.
Oh, also, I know there's a bit of like avatar world politics/policies conversations in this chapter, and that isn't everyone's thing, but it all served a purpose here (ie as a way for Mai and Katara to bond as well as respect some of each other's differences), but don't worry, even with the peace conferences coming up, I'm going to do my best not to overload the chapters with too much of this.
This chapter comes in at 10,975 words, making the whole fic 121,473 words. Goddamn.
As always, thank you so much for all your comments and for sticking around - it means so much to me! I'm pretty sure we should hit the end of the show's run next chapter, and then onward :)